catch up + thankfuls.

I'm going to be too lazy to recap every day or even to include pictures. 

The rest of staycation was really great.

My bathroom is amazing.

amazing.

seriously. amazing.

It's not 100% finished, but it has 97% of a floor, an installed and working double sink + vanity (re-plumbed by my amazing husband from one sink to two!), a fancy new toilet, a working shower, mostly painted walls. 

Though we're not quite done, it is fully functional.

I just want to know:

Why didn't anyone tell me to finish our master bath four years ago?! 

:)

--

Anyway, the rest of the week was full of just being a family, a trip to the museum, several parks, dinner with friends, sleeping in, and working on the house. It was good. 

-- 

And now... a quick thankful list:

-my monday night bible study girls

-Cate's newfound love of coloring and drawing 

-hearing my son pray for our missionary friends

-Nora taking her first steps

-homemade pizza... three times in one week (We were on vacation!)

-holiday traditions... like black friday shopping with my big brother and sister-in-law

-an easy fiction read.. and time to do so

-Lightroom. 

-Indianapolis. And it being home. 

-scarves and boots

-70 degree mid-November days

-my 7d. 

I hope to be back with regular posts now that normal life has resumed. Hope you're having a great November-- ours is off to a wonderful start!

day 8 and 9 thankful

day 8:

While not as productive as we'd hoped, it was still a really great day. Seventy degrees and sunny, actually. The most perfect November day ever. We had dentist appointments for the big kids and then had a picnic and hours of play at the park. The sweetest part of the day for me, though, was the evening.

Growing up, we play a LOT of Uno. Whenever my grandparents would come in from Mississippi, we'd have huge games that lasted hours. I have so many sweet memories of those times... Anyway, last night we taught Corban how to play. And we played and played and played. He was getting so excited, threatening 'skippers' and hoping to make us draw four. It's so crazy that I'm at this stage... I've always dreamed of doing those things that I treasure so much from my childhood with my own kids, and here we are.

Where does the time go?!

This 'thankful' is multi-faceted: I am so thankful for a family that enjoyed being together growing up. I loved that time with family, the uno games, hours of aggravation, scrabble, tetris euchre, etc. We did a lot of it, "QFT" as mom called it, and I think it's so important and good. I'm thankful for my Grandma and Papaw... I can't play Uno and NOT think of my Papaw. He is an amazing, incredible man... If there was ever a man to make this girl feel treasured and beautiful (prior to my husband), it was my Papaw. And along those same lines, thinking back to having just watched Courageous... I am so so blessed to have had such amazing men so present in my life. I am still floored, in awe of who I consider my dad, Jack.. a twenty six year old man at the time coming in and loving me and my older brother as if we were his own. I don't remember ever once being referred to by him as his step-daughter... always his daughter. He loved me and raised me as a father should a daughter, though he didn't have to. I recognize now how incredible this really is, and I am more thankful than I could ever express.

And now, I have this husband... the boy I fell in love with half my life ago.. now a man... and an amazing one at that. And watching him be daddy to our kiddos, especially those little girls... not a day in their life will they have to wonder if they're special. 

I have so much to be thankful for!

day 9:

Do you remember my mention of massive to-do lists? 

Yes, I might as well throw them out the window. 

You do remember, too, that we have three small children? 

That's right. 

And that I've been struck by a plague of sorts and can't get well? 

Mmhmm.

"Blessed are the flexible, for they are not easily broken." 

Right? 

:)

I say this all jestingly. Sort of. I'm not really down about the lack of progress being made on my list. I AM bummed that it's already Wednesday night, but I keep telling myself that we have until Monday morning. Still five more days. Keep trucking along. Keep having fun. 

Progress has been slow today. This bathroom project is much more of an undertaking than anticipated, but it's moving along. It's now 100% empty of anything original, praise the Lord! The new shower base is down though not installed, but PTL again, it fits! 

A funny story: We bought a new toilet today. 

Not in our original plans, but we found out it was necessary once we actually tried to flush the been-stagnant-for-three-years one. Three years of rust and calcium made a barrier unbreakable so... 

we are now the possessors of a two flush option toilet. 

Toss that thought around for a moment...

Have you ever heard of such a thing?! Ha!

After all these silly details, I'm thankful for the provision to be able to finally remodel our bathroom! :)

Anyway, I'm going to be too lazy to insert pictures at appropriate places and just attach them all at the end.  

 the removing of the beautiful green speckled tile!

(Oh I forgot to mention... the beautiful floral border that was up before? Ladies and gentlemen, it was TAPED on. Easiest wall paper removal of all time!!!!)

Sweet Nora James-- with a BOW! That means.. HAIR! :)

 My boy playing UNO. :)

 Jordan cutting the shower in half so that we can get it out of the bathroom:

 He ended up having to cut up the floor in order to remove the old drain. He first cut the whole shower out around it:

 ... and it's gone! :)

Enjoy your day!

day 5, 6, 7 thankful

day 5:

An afternoon spent with my in-laws. Watching Jordan's youngest brother play football and then hanging out at Taylor University. The most perfect fall weather. Being nearly caught up on editing. Sleep. 

Nasal spray, decongestant and cough drops. Amen.

day 6:

A quick and easy one year old session. Kicking off vacation. Pumpkin spice latte. Bonfire. Our youth group.

day 7:

Ahhh... day one of REAL vacation, with no commitments or responsibilities. We spent the bulk of our morning home improvement store hopping. It was melt down city in Menards and Home Depot left us with the first 'accident' since being potty trained, but we arrived home with a new shower, other bathroom fixtures, and wood to repair the 'death deck'. Glorious.

Not one day in the almost four years that we have lived in this house have we used the master bath. Let me remind you again:

Yes. I mean, I love green as much as the next guy... but let's be honest:

Never ever EVER is shag carpet in a bathroom a good idea.

Needless to say, I might miss my spare storage closet just a tid, but I am GIDDY about a bathroom! In my bedroom! Amazing! We loved the master suite of this house.. one of the selling points for me, but it has been sooo neglected-the last room to be worked on, the same things half painted as they were 3.8 years ago. It's time to finish and my goal is this week. 

Now, I know nothing about installing vanities and showers and toilets (all of which will be brand spanking new!!), but I married a handy man who's not afraid to try things out. He's also pretty good and demo-ing, too:

:)

(I was reminded that my new camera has video.. might as well try it out, right?!)

And in case you're curious as to what happened here:

Nasty sink/vanity was thrown off of the death deck, which is off of the master bedroom. I don't think I have a picture of said deck, but I will soon, as it will hopefully lose it's name in the very near future. 

Anyway- the bathroom is now empty of carpet (if you want to call it that...), the green sink, and the calcium and rust filled toilet. Next up: operation rip-out-shower.

We rounded out the night with some killer smoothies and a few intense games of princess memory. Jordan was twice the victor, and Corban legit-ly took the crown (or belt, in my family) the third game. 

QFT at its finest. A good week is ahead. :)
much much much to be thankful for.

day 3 and 4 - thankful

day 3:

Remember our friend Jacob? Who was once our housemate? And who worked at starbucks and brought me lattes last year while I was writing 'thankful' lists?! Well... he's made the list again! (And he has no idea! Yay, Jacob!)

Our dear friend who is like family gave my husband and I the luxury of an evening out last night. Every once in awhile, we have him come over after we put the kids to bed, and Jordan and I slip out for appetizers or something of that nature. Last nights' outing was a trip to the theatre to go see Courageous.. our first trip to the theatre in YEARS. We definitely enjoyed and would recommend the movie. It was nice to have an evening out with my husband and to be furthered challenged on the privilege and responsibility of being a parent and raising our children up in the Lord. Thanks, Jacob!! 

day 4:

Twice this week we have had students at our house working... just to serve. We have a team in at our church from the Horizon School of Evangelism in San Diego for their practicum. They are helping all over our church and are doing more than I could even list while they are here. Anyway- we got contacted to see if we needed any help around here (it's no new news that our house has a never ending list of projects...) and had a van full show up just to work early in the week, and then today, two men from our bible college came over for their service day. They have raked leaves and picked up sticks, chopped wood, painted a bathroom, helped with the kids, laundry, dishes, etc. They would finish something and find me to see what else could be done. How incredible is that?! And, oh, so timely for this overwhelmed, exhausted, and SICK mama. :) (i'm going on two straight weeks now, and feeling worse than ever. blah!)

That leads into the other part of my thankful for today-- we are officially on 'stay'cation! This years fall break includes a loooooooooong to-do list, as we hope to wrap up projects to get our house ready to put on the market. Number one goal for this week is to finish (well, start-ha) our master bath. 

A reminder: green shower and sink. Green and blue shag carpet. Flower border. Scum. Gross.

And on that note... I'm desperately trying to wrap up all my editing/disk making/packaging/mailing by Sunday so that I can rest and relax with my family this week. That's not really a contradiction... we've got fun planned in and being home and just together IS relaxing, even if it's working around here.

This is long, wordy, and I need to get back to work. Happy weekend!

thankful- day two

 

After a month of extreme busyness, a month of me being much more working mom than stay at home mom, I praise God and am so so grateful for the privilege of being able to stay home to train up my children.

 

I am thankful for the provision that enables me to do so, for a husband who encourages and desires for me to be home, for a life-long dream coming to fruition. 

Not that it's easy. 

Or even always fun. 

But after a month of priorities being way out of whack, I recognize and know that there's nowhere else and nothing I'd else I'd rather be doing. 

Thank you, Lord, for providing a way and opening my eyes to the gift, privilege, and responsibility  you've given me in being able to be home to raise these babies!

:)

"Every good and perfect gift comes from above, coming down from the father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change!"

james 1:17

thankful.

I don't want to claim that I will do 30 days of thankful, because you know as well as I do that the chance of me blogging every day this month is slim. Real slim.

BUT-

I do want to blog often, and have the emphasis be thankfulness this month.

So - day one:

Today my heart is bursting with thankfulness that it's November.

Really and truly.

There are many reason that I'm thankful that October has passed, but we'll leave that for some other day.

November means vacation (er, staycation), house projects, rest, family, thanksgiving, black friday... It means a fresh start. A new month, a new beginning. A chance to do things right. 

Today, it meant closing the computer, pausing the editing, and trampoline jumping and leaf throwing. It meant tickling and giggling and enjoying those babies who once really were babies but now... how the time goes too quick.

Thankful for a fresh start. A new month. Rest.

"Rejoice always.

Pray without ceasing.

In everything, give thanks..."

(1 thes 5:16)

oh you know.

 

just some pics of my sweet babies.

:)

Things are busy around here. I'm hanging on until November... and then things calm down a little. This week holds five photo session (4 of which are tomorrow), and the next two weeks have weekend weddings (that I'm photographing) with multiple sessions mixed in. But November is looking calmer, and I'm not taking much in Decemeber, so rest is coming. 

Also- Everyone is fighting colds around here.

anyway...

Nora turned 9 months old almost two weeks ago. She continues to grow sweeter by the minute. It's incredible... so incredible.. to be her mama. I really and truly have never known a happier, more content baby. She's crawling and cruising like crazy, waves, gives sweet kisses, likes food- all of it, and loves her big brother and sister an amazing amount. She can be a little bashful sometimes and seems to lack that fearless gene my other two have (not complaining). :) 

Caters will be 3 in 3 months, and how that is possible I am just not sure. She is a mystery to me, my little girl... She is wired and works in a way that I have yet to figure out. But we're pushing through... we'll get there. :) I stand firm in my belief that 2.5 is the hardest age to parent, in case you're wondering. :)

Cate loves all things princess and wedding and babies. She also loves dirt and mud and bikes. She is as strong-willed as ever and can give the fiercest looks you've ever seen on a face so sweet. She operates a little like this: ON. OFF. No middle ground with her. She also thinks naps are for the birds, much to my dismay. She's so sharp, though, and picks up things quick quick quick. She can spell most of the words her big brother can (Corban, Cate, Mom), and loves to be read to and do puzzles. She really is a sponge and is eager to be taught. I love her enthusiasm and energy and I love her desire to do whatever mama does. She's my girl--- and the Lord is using her to streeeeeeeeeeeetch this mama's heart. :) 

Corbanator is SO big. A kid. It blows my mind. He is absolutely thriving in school. His behavior has been excellent the entire year and I am blown away at how much and how quickly he is learning. I think it's just a matter of time before he's reading-- and he is SO eager to get there! I'm looking forward to hearing what his teacher has to say at our first parent-teacher conference on Monday. It seems a little surreal to me that I am attending a parent/teacher conference as a parent. I'm really a mom now, right?! haha. He is growing and changing so much, though... He's got a sweet and tender heart, and is very much a people person. I so love the little boy he is... am so proud to be his Mama.

Okay. That's all I've got for a quick summary. I need to do a 'cate says' post soon... the girl keeps me laughing-- she's hilarious! I've spent too much time not being productive and my big kids are jumping around instead of resting, so I better get back at it!!